Stiffening strips in a garment



April 19, 1955 w. H. SCHLEGEL STIFFENING STRIPS IN A GARMENT Filed Aug. 26, 1953 w T N/ we 5 E H c. 5 H M m w W AT TORNEY United States Patent O STIFFENING STRIPS IN A GARMENT William H. Schlegel, Wyomissing, Pa.

Application August 26, 1953, Serial No. 376,581 3 Claims. (Cl. 2--216) This invention relates to clothing, and more particularly' to stiffening strips useful in outer and under garments including coats, dresses, petticoats, brassieres, corsets and the like.

The use of stiffening members such as stiffening hoops in garments of the gay nineties is well known. However, such stiffening members have various outstanding disadvantages for present-day use. Metal hoops or the like are too stiff for present dress styling, and not sub ect to easy attachment to a garment and require complete enclosure to prevent exposure thereof which adds appreciably to the cost. Other stiffening materials also have disadvantages such as incapability of being readily sewed, or being affected by washing or cleaning with regard to the stiffness, color or shape, or in detracting from the appearance of the garment, or in not being absorbent and therefore not quick drying.

An object of the present invention is to provide an outer garment or under garment with stiffening strips of extruded nylon, which overcome the above named disadvantages of conventional types of stiffening strips, and to arrange such strips in a manner so as to present a nicely tailored appearance, somewhat of the character of a freshly ironed or pressed garment.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an attractive garment having a skirt portion of hooped construction, comprising strips of nylon of relatively stiff sheet form, as distinguished from the flexlblc woven form, wherein the nylon strips are disposed in the form of parallel hoops to give somewhat of a hooped but wavy design.

Another object of the present invention Is to provide a stiffening strip of extruded nylon of either flat or round cross-section which can be sewed or otherwise fastened to a garment, and which is unaffected by normal washing or cleaning with respect to stiffness, color or shape, and which is colorless, non-absorbent and quick drying.

A still further object is to provide a stiffening strip for garments which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, simple to attach to a garment as well as inexpensive to assemble.

Other objects and advantages of the lnvention will be come apparent from a study of the following description taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a childs petticoat having sewed thereto a plurality of stiffening strips of extruded nylon in the form of parallel hoops and embodying the principles of the present invention, and

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary portion of the garment shown in Figure l more clearly illustrating the stiffening strip and hoop construction.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, numeral 1 denotes an undergarment, such as a girls petticoat of any suitable design. While a petticoat is shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent that the invention is applicable also to other undergarments or to dresses, coats and other outer garments. Numeral 2 denotes a plurality of decorative bands made from relatively flexible cord-type cloth of round cross section and disposed in parallel relationship. Bands 2 are very flexible therefore alone would provide a negligible amount of stiffening. Therefore bands 2 are backed by stiffening strips 3 of extruded nylon which may be sewed to the base garment or petticoat l. A strip of lace 4 is associated with each band and may be sandwiched and sewed between band 2 and strip 3. The nylon strip 3 is of solid or extruded material as distinguished from the very flexible woven nylon, therefore possesses rela- Patented Apr. 19, 1955 tively high stiffness and causes the garment to project outwardly and to have the contour of a hoop of wave-like formation since the stiffness is not quite sufficient to form a circular hoop.

Extruded nylon strips 3 may be either flat or round in cross section. If fiat, they may be sewed through with any standard sewing machine, such as a Singer 107W1 or a Singer class machine. However it need not necessarily be sewed to the garment but may, instead, be enclosed behind ribbon or lace, or enclosed in a tunnel of material, or the like. If the extruded nylon strip 3 is round or of thread type, it can be used in conjunction with an over seaming machine in which it would be enclosed by the stitch.

By making stiffening strips 3 of extruded nylon, outstanding advantages and new results are obtained. The degrees of stiffening may be readily varied by varying the thickness of strip or the width of strip, or the number of strips. Furthermore, extruded nylon can be easily sewed. It is not affected by normal washing or cleaning in respect to stiffness, color or shape. It is practically colorless or transparent, therefore unnoticeable when used even on the outside of the garment in association with lace. It is non-absorbent and therefore quick drying.

The hooped skirt design shown on the drawing presents a very attractive appearance since the hoops cause the petticoat to project outwardly in wave formation to give the appearance of a newly pressed or ironed garment. Furthermore the strips have long life and are unaffected by repeated washings.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an efficient stiffening strip construction for outer garments and undergarments for providing a hoop-like design and for giving rigidity to a flexible decorative strip, such as a cloth strip or lace strip, and which will not be affected by washing or cleaning with regard to stiffness, color or shape; which is practically colorless and transparent and therefore unnoticeable when sewed onto the outer surface of the garment; and which is non-absorbent and therefore quick drying; also whose stiffening may be easily and quickly varied by changing its thickness, width or the number of strips to give any desired stiffening effect.

While the stiffening strips have been shown in hooped form on a petticoat, it should be noted that they may be applied in other forms or shapes to other undergarments, such as brassires and corsets, and to outer garments such as coats and dresses, for example, in the form of straight strips, short or long, or strips of other form to provide stiffening in order to obtain the desired shape of the garment.

While I have illustrated and described several embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that these are by way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A garment comprising a skirt portion having a plurality of horizontal decorative strips in the form of hoops of very flexible material arranged in parallel relationship, each of said strips being attached to and reinforced by a strip of relatively stiff extruded nylon attached to the garment to expand and give a hooped but wavy effect to the garment, said nylon strips being of transparent material.

2. A garment as recited in claim 1 wherein said nylon strips are flat and sewed between the garment and said outer decorative strips.

3. A garment as recited in claim 1 wherein said nylon strips are flat, together with strips of lace having edges sewed to and between said decorative and nylon strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 396,820 Jenkins Jan. 29, 1889 514,861 Lockwood Feb. 13, 1894 554,998 Forsyth Feb. 18, 1896 586,033 Hartman July 6, 1897 913,815 Doty Mar. 2, 1909 2,531,234 Seckel Nov. 21, 1950 2,601,269 Fisch June 24, 1952 

